Touched by Death (32 page)

She barely heard his shout of release and her body
flew apart a second time as he emptied himself into her.

Exhausted, he collapsed, rolled quickly to one side,
and tucked her up close against him.

She curled into him, happier than she could ever remember.
Sated, feeling a peacefulness she hadn't expected, she dozed off to
sleep.

T
he next day Jade sat out on the garden patio, a coffee
in hand. She loved the brilliant green of the palms. Dane had left a
couple of hours earlier. She couldn't stop smiling. He hadn't quite
kept his promise, but came damn close. They'd napped, made love, talked
and laughed and made love again...and again.

She should be exhausted. Instead she felt invigorated,
full of energy – and very content. She smirked. Maybe 'very satisfied'
was a better way to describe it.

"Wow. So what has put that look on your face?"
Meg and Bruce walked over to join her.

"What?" Jade tried to rearrange her features
but thoughts of Dane filled her heart to bursting. Keeping those feelings
inside just didn't work so well. And there was no way she'd be able
to hide their relationship for long. She grinned. "Dane is hot,
isn't he?"

Meg giggled.

Bruce rolled his eyes. "Shall I go away? Leave
you two together to have this girl talk."

Jade laughed. "No need. There's nothing to discuss."

"That's not what it looks like from here."
Meg sat down in the chair next to Jade.

"True enough." Bruce ordered coffee.

As they sat in the sunshine, Dane's truck drove into
the parking lot. Jade's heart lightened. It was hard to greet him in
front of the others. Part of her wanted to race over and kiss him and
another part of her wanted to flatten him on the ground and have her
way with him right there and then – again.

She didn't know how to greet him…especially in front
of an audience. Then he came into view. Dane wasn't alone. A very unhappy-looking
John was at his heels.

Standing, she pulled over a couple of chairs and ordered
two more coffees.

Bruce rose and shook John's hand. "Good to see
you. Sorry you've had such a bad couple of weeks. Any news on Peppe's
whereabouts?"

John grimaced, and sat down. "Thanks. It's been
rough. No news. I've checked his place a couple of times. I'm sure he's
returned and left again, but he's sly, coming and going in the night.
He left a box full of papers open on the kitchen table. Papers I'd never
seen before."

Dane gazed at Jade, gave her an intimate smile then
winked at her. She hid her grin from the others while her insides melted.
She gave him a quick wink back, hiding her own smile. Now, at least,
her nerves could settle down. She tuned into the conversation.

"There was a family tree on the top of the papers.
Peppe and his wife, Anne, were first cousins. I don't know if that even
makes a difference, but I passed the information on to the doctors."

That bombshell took a bit to settle in.

"So then Tasha's mental instability could be
a direct result of faulty genetics?" Jade shook her head slightly.
Why don't people consider the results of their actions? "What about
Emile? Was he fine?"

"As far as I could see. We'll never know how
he might have developed over time."

Dr. Mike frowned. "In Tasha's case, it could
be a contributing factor. That's something for the doctors to determine."

Staring almost bitterly at each person in the group
one by one, John nodded. "I guess so."

Jade winced. "I just hate that it's turning out
this way."

Bruce leaned back. "We all do." He picked
up his coffee and had a sip. "Sometimes things happen and there's
nothing we can do but accept and move on."

"Some things we aren't ever going to know or
understand." John stood up, leaving his coffee untouched. "It
was nice to see you all again. I'm going to the hospital." He turned
to Dane. "Are you coming with me?"

Dane stood up, smiled good-bye at everyone and turned
to leave – stopping beside Jade. He bent and gave her a quick
hug, dropping a brief kiss on her lips. "I'll stop by a little
later."

Her cheeks warmed. Not trusting herself to speak,
she smiled good-bye.

The rest of the group had knowing smiles on their
face but stayed quiet – thankfully.

Jade took the rest of the day off. She relaxed, did
laundry, did her hair. In short, she just lazed around and did nothing
work related. She couldn't remember the last day she'd taken for herself.
She called Duncan, but her brother wasn't home. Restless, she realized
she had a whole Saturday afternoon stretching ahead of her… She'd
start with a stroll.

She walked out the front door of the hotel and took
a deep breath of the humid air outside.

Keeping to one direction', enjoying the flavors of
Jacmel, she found herself in a small center where vendors hawked their
wares. She avoided the crowds surrounding one noisy vendor selling food
she didn't recognize. As she went around that, she almost walked into
another person. Flustered, she apologized and tried to get out of the
way.

Her arm was grabbed. She jerked back instinctively,
spinning to see who had grabbed her.

Magrim.

Dressed in a loose multicoloured blouse, with dozens
of equally colourful beaded necklaces wrapped around her neck, Magrim
jingled loudly as she tightened her grip on Jade's arm. Her black eyes
stared up at Jade. "What you believe is wrong. Only the truth can
set you free. You are in great danger until you find the truth."

Jerking free, Jade swallowed hard. She closed her
eyes briefly and fought the urge to run all the way back to the hotel.
But if Magrim knew something about what was going on, then Jade wanted
to know it too. "Magrim. What is the truth?"

"Evil spirits dwell in those around you. Save
yourself before it is too late." Magrim sat back down on a chair,
going quiet and still.

Jade stepped away, cast another look Magrim's way,
then bolted for the hotel. Her panic gave her feet extra speed as she
dodged the crowds, ran across the roads, not daring to slow down or
look behind. She only wanted the safety of her hotel room. And Dane.
She wanted Dane.

She entered the hotel with sweat running down her
back, gasping for breath. She ran into the office and found Meg. "Oh,
thank God." She slapped her purse down on her desk, collapsed into
the closest chair and spilled out the sorry mess.

Meg gasped then said, "That's nuts. Danger still?
Evil spirits in those closest to you? Surely, all that bad stuff is
over?" Meg could only stare at her, shaking her head. "I know
there's no science to it. I know that and I'm still freaked by what
she told you."

"I hear you. Why can't she tell me stuff like
'you'll meet a tall dark and handsome man'?" Jade frowned. "Isn't
that what they're supposed to say?"

"Yeah, except Dane isn't dark." Meg smiled
broadly and shook her head.

"True enough." Jade ran her fingers through
her hair. "Christ, she scared me."

"Can you ignore what she said?" Meg suggested,
a frown forming as she studied Jade's face.

"I'd love to," Jade muttered. "But
since I told you what she said, aren't you already considering the handful
of people that we've met since being here?"

"Considering what? Wondering if they're evil?
What is evil anyway?" Meg exclaimed, throwing her hands in the
air.

"I don't know. I don't want to know." Shuddering,
Jade sank lower in the chair.

Reaching out a gentle hand, Meg patted Jade's arm.
"I'm sorry. I agree the trip has been fraught with weird accidents
and happenings, however, let's not let our imaginations take the place
of commonsense."

Jade released a big sigh. "Right. Got that. Ignore
Magrim."

"Jade…"

She spun around, startled at the unexpected voice.
"Dane. Hi." Standing up, she headed toward him. When he opened
his arms, she ran right into them.

A grin lit up his face then he became more serious
and stepped back to study her. "Nice welcome. But what's wrong?
You look like you just ran a marathon."

"I'm fine." She shook her head. "Just
a little weirded out. That's all."

At his puzzled look, she explained about the woman
and her prophecy. When she finished, the 'nasty' bubbling up in her
eased back down again. Anything to do with Magrim set her nerves on
edge.

He frowned. "Let's go find her, ask for more
information."

Jade stepped back, shaking her head violently. "No.
No way. You can go. I'm staying here. I don't want anything to do with
her."

Dane glanced over at Meg. "Are you game?"

With a raised eyebrow Meg stood up, a pensive smile
on her face. "Actually, you know, I'd kinda like to go."

Jade gave a mock shudder. "You two are nuts.
Feel free. Not me. No way. I'm going to sit right here and have a coffee."
She nodded, liking that idea better and better. "Where it's safe."

Meg studied her curiously. "Have you forgotten?
She said the evil is close to you."

"Gee thanks." Jade turned around, hating
the clarification. "So maybe, according to her, I'm not so safe…
But I feel safe and that has to count for something."

Meg reached out and gave her a quick hug. "That
it does. Dane and I'll walk over, talk to her and walk back. We'll be
maybe twenty minutes. You okay for that long? Which direction?"

"Oh yes. I'm just fine. Shoo…run along."
She used hand motions to push them out the door. "I went that way."
She pointed to the street across from the hotel. "No turns and
about five minutes straight forward…that's where I found the vendors.
Go. Get this foolishness over with and come back safe and sound."
She waved them away. "Hurry up. Go."

Meg and Dane laughed in astonishment. "Are you
sure you won't come with us? Maybe you should. See her for what she
really is?"

"Nope. I'm good right here. I'll go sit outside
in that chair right there," she pointed to a deep cushioned lounge
chair in the shade out on the patio, "and that's where I'll be
when you come back. Sitting there, enjoying my coffee and my day."
To prove her point, Jade picked up her purse and walked out with them.
She headed to the chair and plonked down, waving good-bye with a big
smile.

Dane shook his head then followed Meg through the
small gate. Jade sat and watched them leave. Dane turned back to look
at her before heading off.

She smiled. God, he looked devastating, close up or
in the distance. She sighed happily, but waved him on when he hesitated.
He'd be back soon enough and they could spend time together then.

With a wave, he turned and hurried to catch up to
Meg.

As soon as they disappeared, Jade dropped the smile.
Her face hurt from trying to put on a good show. She wasn't smiling
inside. In fact, Magrim had terrified her this time. She'd hated to
be so susceptible to the crone's words but some scary shit was going
on. She knew the others thought she was foolish. She didn't care what
they thought – she was too busy being scared.

"Is she always like this?" Dane asked Meg
as he caught up with her. Meg could move. Those long legs of hers easily
matched his stride. He preferred walking with Jade though, and he missed
her already. He'd stopped in at the hotel hoping to spirit her to the
beach for the afternoon.

Then she'd told him about Magrim. Best to get to the
bottom of this business and ease her mind. Truthfully, he found Jade's
behavior kind of cute. She was such a contradiction of science and belief.
Look at the difficult job she did identifying dead bodies and how efficiently
she did that. Yet she was also freaked out by an old woman's words.
Surely her scientific background would allow her to throw off such words
as nonsense? Anyway, the fact it didn't made Jade even more interesting
and appealing…and brought out his 'knight in shining armor' instincts…to
rescue and protect.

Meg's voice pulled him out of his reverie. "To
a certain extent. Jade is blessed with a strong imagination. Anytime
we have a scenario to puzzle through she comes up with the more morbid
conclusions. Take the first earthquake victim – that was a little
different. Jade is sure that person was living as a captive, was a sex
slave or something along those lines…and that she was murdered. Jade
might be right… Then again, she might not be."

Odd. Dane didn't understand how Jade had come up with
that hypothesis in the first place. "I'm sure lots of people suffered
major injuries from this disaster, why would she think anything of that
particular victim?"

Meg leaned closer, dropping her voice to a whisper.
"That would be because of the chains around the woman's ankle.
Something we're trying to keep quiet."

Dane came to a halt. "Chains? Around the ankle
of a skeleton? In the mass grave? Are you serious? That's enough to
spark anyone's imagination."

"I know, right?" Meg halted beside him.
They'd almost reached the busy street corner. A park stretched across
the one side while vendors fought for customers and space on the other.

Dane shook his head.
Chains.
"Did anyone ask John about them?"

"No. But we've spoken to the authorities; they
want more evidence before they worry about another body in a mass grave.
They're short-staffed and have too many other problems right now. Actually,
I think they'd like to see us walk away from this, just disappear for
good. I know the medical problems they're dealing with are brutal, what
with cholera and tetanus…and more. Plus the crime rate has spiked
too. They don't want to deal with old, unsolved crimes right now. For
all anyone knows these women
liked
to wear steel anklets."

Her tone, made Dane look over at her sharper. "Did
you say women? How many?"